


The Doctor Thinks

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Chips - Freeform, Gen, Tumblr: doctorroseprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 07:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12103995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: As he said, 'thinking's just a fancy word for changing your mind'.The Doctor most certainly does NOT miss that London shopgirl he met a few months ago.  Can barely even remember her, in fact.  So why does this blonde woman who dresses and sounds just like him think she's worth going back for?





	The Doctor Thinks

**Author's Note:**

> Or: what made Nine go back for Rose.
> 
> Minuscule not-positive mention of River.

The Doctor scowled down into his chips, annoyed that after three months of travelling on his own, he still thought of that young London girl whose name he _absolutely,_ _definitely_ does not remember.  Brooding, it takes him a moment to realize a woman has sat down across from him, only noticing when she steals a chip right out of his cup.

“Oi!”  He objected, and the woman across from him smirked.

“Says a lot, doesn’t it?”  She asked casually, taking another chip despite his attempted dodge.

“What does?”  He grit out, irritated to have his brooding interrupted.

“River never liked chips.”  She sighed, making less than no sense to the Doctor.

“Who’s River?”  He decided that playing along would probably be the fastest way to get her away from his chips and leave him in peace.

“Exactly.”  She brandished the chip like a sword.

“Can I help you?”  He cut to the chase, giving her his best Oncoming Storm glare.  Surprisingly, she only grinned in response.

“Yes, you can.”  They leaned forward at the same time, arms crossed.  With a start, the Doctor realized she had the same accent he currently did.

“Fine.  Tell me how.”

“Go back.”  She told him simply, looking at him as though that explained everything.

“Back?”  He was understandably confused, chips now forgotten between them.

“Sometimes, people make choices not because they want to, but because they feel they should, and all they need is someone to ask twice.  Plus, I believe there’s a minor detail you left out.”  Unbidden, an image of Rose came to mind, though he didn’t think the woman could possibly know about her.

“Did I now?  And what was that?”

The woman rose, looking down at him critically.  “Sometimes, you have to start from the beginning.  And this, this is a story that deserves to be told.  Don’t muck it up.”

She went to leave, but got only a few steps away before turning back and taking the half-full chip cup.  “Oh, and she definitely loves chips.”

Leaving the Doctor in an unusually stunned silence, it is not until she is out of sight that he comes back to himself.  Deciding to take the strange woman’s advice to heart(s), he headed for the TARDIS, whistling all the way.

It is not until he is at the controls and catches sight of a sticky note he had left himself that most _definitely_ was _not_ the space-time coordinates for where he’d left that shopgirl whatshername, that the most important detail of his interaction with the woman hit him.

_Their conversation was in High Gallifreyan._

Start from the beginning, she said.  A minor detail left out.

The column flashed, and he understood.

TARDIS.

Time and Relative Dimension in Space.

He mentioned the space; did he tell her it did time as well?

He flipped the dematerialization lever, heading back to the alley where she hopefully still was, and realized that whoever and whatever this girl was, she was important enough for a future regeneration to come back and make sure he got her.

Never mind that the future regeneration was going to _look_ like her.


End file.
